


true colors

by joshriku



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:46:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25351864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joshriku/pseuds/joshriku
Summary: When Konishi stepped up as the Composer's new Conductor, running errands was not the idea she had in mind. Not even in the slightest.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 30





	true colors

**Author's Note:**

> i love to think abt how joshua was so Hopeless of humanity that maybe after the game since his perspective on them changed again and he won't let not even the tiniest bit of things be ruined like that again
> 
> "what about a new day" i simply do not see it
> 
> [tumblr](http://joshrikus.tumblr.com/)  
> [twitter](http://twitter.com/joshriku/)  
> 

No matter how perfect her plan was, the amount of satisfaction she got from the title was nearly not as great as she imagined it to be. It’s odd, after being after the Conductor’s chair for so long, having it on her hands is underwhelming. Could it be the lack of satisfaction from not erasing Kitaniji herself? The lack of closure from not getting to rip it out of the man she spent serving for so long, hoping for the day she’d backstab him? It simply feels incomplete. Like the puzzle piece will forever have a missing part.

As it is, there’s only one thing left to do. Build a new plan. Arguably, it’s harder than usual—it’s hard to outline a plan without the facts. The UG had been changed drastically, and so had Shibuya: this past week had felt like the entire city was rewritten. The Composer’s doing, no doubt, but trying to get to the bottom of what He did was indecipherable. 

The Composer… An extraordinary being.

When she had proposed to him to pick her as a new Conductor, it had been a ride. No one can make her feel nervous—according to the data she collected on the Composer from Kitaniji, he shouldn’t have been hard to handle. Kitaniji’s respect and loyalty to the Composer had definitely come out of a weak place, from lack of greater intellect and a willingness to accept someone was higher than him.

As she stood in front of him, Mitsuki Konishi had felt threatened.

“Konishi,” The Composer had spoken. His voice was indescribable—so commanding. It’s a voice you have to listen to. His presence was incomparable. It demands respect. “I presume you are here to fill in for the Conductor.”

The absolute neutrality on his voice was unsettling. It was truly no wonder why people responded so easily to him.

“Yes, sir,” Konishi said, regaining her posture. “I believe I’ll make a valuable asset to the team. My performances, as you might know, are nothing short of perfect—”

“Why do you want to be a Conductor now?” The Composer interrupted. “Your plans for Shibuya were interesting. I know about them, of course. You were willing to dispose of Megumi for them, were you not?”

She did not expect him to know about that. “Yes.”

“I ask you once again, why? Your current plans do not match up with the Shibuya we live in. For the situation we used to be in, I would consider them to be fitting. Perhaps, had you been the Conductor then, I would have implemented them. But your goals are meaningless now, Konishi. This Shibuya has no relation to the past one.”

Oh, insufferable—complimenting her plans in one sentence and shattering them to pieces in the next one. The urge to attack him then had made itself present, but she had held it back, and mulled over his question. Why now? Without the terrible state Shibuya was in, there was nothing to fix. Essentially, the Composer had gotten rid of her issues, Kitaniji was no more, and all that was left for her was the handling of Reapers. But it was this: this willingness to keep going and get this title that kept her going always. She couldn’t give this up. Not now. Not after she came so far.

“I believe I stated my abilities earlier, Sir. Are we all not bonded by our love for this city? Are we not willing to do anything for Shibuya? My past plans may not hold to the state of it, but my love for it has not changed.”

It wasn’t a half-lie anyway. What was unsettling still was the Composer’s eyes, looking down at her like she was inferior to him. She hated that. Nobody should be above her—not even the Composer himself.

“Very well,” The Composer finally says. “Konishi. I must warn you now that I do not take betrayal lightly—any move you attempt to backstab me, take over my place, I will know. I’d advise you to not attempt it, to spare yourself. If you are okay with that, the job is yours. You respond to me now. Agreed?”

“Don’t worry about it, Sir. I have never been after the Composer’s chair.” She smiled, satisfied. “I look forward to working with you, Sir. It’s an honor.”

The Composer didn’t smile, or if he had, Konishi was not able to catch it. His form is a surprising mix of soothing and terrifying: just the right amount of unrecognizable silhouette.

She’s dismissed from his chamber after that, and what should’ve been the most satisfactory moment turned out to be nothing but another memory for her book.

* * *

“Konishi,” The Composer greets her. His presence isn’t any less extraordinary, but this time, she finds herself ready for him to summon her. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

She had been waiting patiently for the Composer to start issuing missions to her. After all, being the right-hand man to such an important figure like him, it is only expected whatever he needed would match up to his status. There was a lot to fix in the UG—this Game had taken a toll on it, they lacked so many Reapers in their staff, needed to get new officers, and—

“The Prince wrote about a new tea place. You should go check it out and bring me some.”

“Excuse me?”

“I like jasmine tea,” The Composer continues like it’s nothing, “and if it’s good, I’ll be leaving you a note to bring it to the owners as a review.”

“You must be kidding, right?” she asks, just slightly bewildered. “Sir, what use would that be?”

“I can’t go to the RG like this,” he replies. “It’s dangerous to return to my RG form, as well. So it must be you who does it for me.”

“R-right…” Konishi adjusts her glasses. “Frankly, sir, I think this order is not in my job description.”

Finally, the Composer turns to look at her. The look of disdain speaks volumes. “Is it not? I thought Conductors were royal servers to the Composer. Kitaniji never hesitated.”

Her hand trembles slightly. How dare he compare her to such a pathetic man? Defeated by his own foolishness… she’d never succumb like that. Fine, good on the Composer, he knew what buttons to press.

“Plus,” he carries on, conversationally, “He F’d it. He only F’s stuff he really likes.”

“…Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“Of course. F for Fabulous. Get your mind out of the gutter, Konishi. Make sure you hurry, every place the Prince mentions gets crowded within minutes.”

How could refusal not be an option? Isn’t he the most powerful being in the UG? Why, oh why, was he acting like a very grown-up child?

“I’ll be right back, sir.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

As the Composer had informed, the place was filled with people. It takes her about an hour to get to her turn, and when she finally gets the tea, she notices all the details that the cup of tea has. Since she asked for hers to be put in a different mug, the cup is personalized to keep the tea warm enough. The designs have pretty flowers on it, making it all the more enticing to drink.

People around her don’t fail to comment on it, too. At the last second, Konishi orders an extra mug for herself to drink at the place—The Composer probably expected her to not return so quickly, anyway, he would not notice if she simply sat down and started observing people.

The inevitable flash of the cameras from people don’t fail to sour her mood—this is what is always wrong with Shibuya. Getting carried away by trends. Had Konishi been Conductor earlier, perhaps she could’ve changed the Composer’s mind and incorporated some harsher rules: after all, tough love didn’t stop being love. 

That’s when she picks up on what they’re actually saying. 

“This tastes soooooooooo amazing!” A student says to another. “I’ve never been a fan of tea, but this is wonderful! I totally changed my mind.”

“Right! And the shopkeepers are so nice, too!” the other one replies, giggling, “After seeing the Prince talk about this, I thought the price tag was going to be insane—but this is so cheap!”

“Good for us, though, we’re only students!” the student grins. “Hey, we should probably queue up again and take more for our friends.”

“Yeah! I want everyone to know how good this tastes!”

Most interesting. Konishi had grown accustomed to the comments that plagued Shibuya every day: hollow appreciation, following a trend only to leave it to die after two days, the lack of genuineness. It’s startling to see people complimenting things for the taste, rather than the aesthetic.

The whole place has a nice ambience to it. It feels… warm.

Huh. Shibuya hasn’t felt warm in a very long time. 

“I got the tea, sir.”

“Wonderful. What did you think of the place, Konishi? Anything to highlight?”

“Crowded, just like you said it would be. The staff was remarkably kind and warm, and the people…”

The Composer paid close attention to her words. It crawls under her skin, just the tiniest bit.

“…The people seemed to be genuinely enchanted by it, sir. A lot of them said they’d be frequenting the place once more. They also seemed to enjoy the taste and price.”

He might be smiling. She’s not sure. “Good to know. I will write my detailed review. You are dismissed.”

This is such an odd job. Konishi nods anyway. 

She takes up the review to the owners. Their eyes shine so bright and they thank her so profusely, she wonders if this is the Shibuya she had seen a few weeks ago.

* * *

The errands progressively grow more stupid. Hiding behind the excuse that his RG form was dangerous, the Composer puts her up to the most ridiculous tasks that definitely did not have anything to do with being a Conductor.

It’s after he requests for her to bring him another set of donuts from his favorite store that she decides to snap at him. It’s hard to hold back, to address him with the respect he deserves, but it’s stress-relieving anyway.

“—and you—I have no idea who you are, and it’s the most infuriating thing! Are you a child playing adult? Are you an adult playing a child? Your requests—your way of running the UG—you are the single most infuriating thing I have ever met in my entire life! You are wasting so much time. You are wasting _my_ time! This is _not_ why I volunteered for Conductor.”

There’s a silence that weighs between them, the Composer taking in all the speech, until he actually giggles. Konishi is about to go off on him again, but he continues.

“There you are, Konishi,” he says, and this is the most amused he’s sounded for the past two weeks she’s been working under him. “I knew you’d show up!”

“What?”

“Do you think you are not obvious, Konishi? Hiding behind flawless calculations and obsessing over a goal can only get you so far. Act real. Think real. This charade will not save you if you intend to continue like this,” he states. Konishi is awfully exposed and it’s like she’s desperately trying to cover herself up. “We are bound by this city. Everything we do, we do for it. Your demeanor and attitude these two weeks—I simply lack to see any initiation from you, any sign that you are happy with our current Shibuya. All I see is a woman built upon so many perfect layers that I simply cannot deem worthy of being Conductor. I can erase you, you know. I asked you one thing, Konishi. No backstabbing. I’d _know.”_

“This is backstabbing for you?”

“What else would you call hiding your true essence from the Composer?” he smiles and this time she knows he is. “This is the first time I’ve seen the real you. The _imperfect_ you. This is the kind of people I want working with me—not empty beings fixated on perfection that hold so much power to influence Shibuya negatively.”

There are many emotions flowing through her right now—anger and disappointment being the most pronounced ones. She wants a longer argument, more points to make, but she can’t deny that he has a point. 

It’s no wonder Kitaniji admired this being so much. 

“Should you choose to show your true colors, you can stay. Should you choose to shape everything into your own hands with your own standards—I will have to make you leave. Your choice, Konishi. I am only giving you one opportunity.”

Shibuya… the city that once was close to being destroyed for individualism, thriving in the perfect balance of collectivism and individualism. The Composer seemed to have grasped that, not willing to change his mind. 

It could be _her_ that alters the calculations and gets a new result now. 

She sighs. “I understand why Mr. Kitaniji admired you so much.”

His mood seemed to have dropped. Perhaps the Composer was hiding his true colors as well. 

“I will be retrieving your takeout now.”

“Excellent,” The Composer turns around, walking back to his chamber. “Konishi. Once you’re back, I’d like to discuss UG matters with you.”

“Yes, sir. It would be a pleasure.”

  
  



End file.
